Behavioral Health Clinic Receptionist

Description

Position Summary

The Behavioral Health Clinic Receptionist provides front-office, scheduling, registration, and administrative support for the Behavioral Health Clinic. This position serves as a primary point of contact for patients, families, providers, referral sources, and other departments.

The receptionist maintains provider appointment calendars, verifies insurance coverage, coordinates patient reminder calls, monitors required patient forms and assessments, and maintains appointment and referral tracking tools. When properly trained and competency-validated, the employee may assist with limited patient intake functions, including obtaining basic vital signs and documenting patient-reported information. These responsibilities reflect the duties identified in the BH Receptionist FTE Replacement Request.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Patient Reception and Customer Service

• Greets patients and visitors promptly and professionally.
• Confirms the purpose of the visit and directs patients to the appropriate clinic staff member.
• Answers telephone calls, routes messages, and provides general information within the position’s authority.
• Maintains a welcoming, orderly, and confidential reception area.
• Responds appropriately to patient concerns and refers clinical questions, complaints, and urgent situations to qualified clinical staff.
• Uses trauma-informed, respectful communication when interacting with behavioral health patients and their families.

Scheduling and Provider Calendar Management

• Schedules, reschedules, and cancels patient appointments in accordance with clinic procedures.
• Maintains provider appointment calendars and makes schedule changes based on approved provider preferences.
• Coordinates patient reminder calls and documents outreach attempts.
• Maintains waiting lists or spreadsheets for patients requesting earlier appointment availability.
• Monitors daily appointment schedules for accuracy, cancellations, no-shows, and scheduling conflicts.
• Communicates scheduling changes to patients, providers, and appropriate clinic staff.

Scheduling appointments and maintaining appointment calendars are consistent with the federal occupational definition for receptionists and information clerks.

Registration and Insurance Verification

• Verifies patient identity, demographic information, contact information, and insurance coverage.
• Updates registration information in the electronic health record or designated registration system.
• Completes eligibility verification and identifies information requiring follow-up.
• Obtains required signatures, acknowledgments, and patient consents.
• Monitors Medicare Secondary Payer, or MSP, documentation when applicable.
• Refers authorization, coverage, payment, or eligibility concerns to Patient Access, Revenue Cycle, or other designated staff.
• Protects financial and demographic information from unauthorized access or disclosure.

Referral and Tracking Support

• Maintains tracking tools for referrals received from the Emergency Department and other internal or external referral sources.
• Reviews referrals for administrative completeness and routes them to the appropriate provider or clinical team.
• Tracks patients awaiting appointment availability and documents outreach and scheduling activity.
• Escalates urgent referrals, reported symptoms, or clinical concerns to a licensed provider, nurse, medical assistant, or other qualified clinical employee.
• Does not independently determine clinical urgency, diagnosis, treatment, or appropriateness of care.
• Documentation and Records Support
• Monitors patient consents, daily appointment sheets, assessments, and other required administrative documentation.
• Scans, uploads, or routes documents to the appropriate electronic health record location.
• Maintains accurate spreadsheets, logs, work queues, and patient follow-up records.
• Performs regular reviews of incomplete registration, scheduling, and administrative documentation.
• Corrects administrative errors promptly and reports recurring documentation concerns to the supervisor.
• Follows record-retention, confidentiality, release-of-information, and secure communication requirements.

Limited Patient Intake Support

When assigned, trained, and competency-validated, the receptionist may:

• Obtain and document height, weight, blood pressure, heart rate, and respiratory rate.
• Review and document patient-reported medication lists and allergies.
• Enter patient-reported medical, social, or family history information without interpreting or altering the information.
• Assist patients with Social Determinants of Health, or SDOH, questionnaires and other approved screening tools.
• Immediately notify qualified clinical staff of abnormal vital signs, reported symptoms, safety concerns, or positive screening responses.
• Follow infection-prevention, hand-hygiene, equipment-cleaning, and patient-identification procedures.

The receptionist may not perform clinical triage, interpret screening results, reconcile medications, make treatment recommendations, or provide clinical advice.

Confidentiality and Behavioral Health Compliance

• Protects patient information in accordance with HIPAA, CGH privacy policies, and applicable behavioral health confidentiality requirements.
• Applies heightened confidentiality protections to substance use disorder records when 42 CFR Part 2 applies.
• Discusses patient information only with authorized individuals and only as necessary to perform assigned duties.
• Verifies patient communication preferences before leaving voicemail messages or disclosing appointment information.
• Reports suspected privacy breaches, inappropriate access, or unauthorized disclosure immediately.
• Maintains appropriate professional boundaries with patients and families.

General Responsibilities

• Participates in cross-training to provide front-desk coverage during absences, meal periods, vacations, and periods of high patient volume.
• Completes required orientation, annual education, safety training, and assigned competencies.
• Follows CGH policies related to attendance, patient identification, infection prevention, emergency response, workplace safety, and standards of conduct.
• Works cooperatively with providers, nurses, medical assistants, referral staff, Patient Access, Revenue Cycle, Health Information Management, and other hospital departments.
• Performs other related duties within the employee’s training and demonstrated competency.

Requirements

Minimum Qualifications

Education

High school diploma or GED required.

Completion of a medical office, patient access, medical assistant, or healthcare administration program preferred.

Experience

At least one year of receptionist, registration, scheduling, customer service, or administrative experience preferred.

Experience in a medical office, hospital clinic, behavioral health setting, or other healthcare environment strongly preferred.

Experience with insurance eligibility verification and electronic health records preferred.

Licensure and Certification

Basic Life Support certification may be required if the employee routinely obtains vital signs or assists with direct patient intake.

No independent clinical license is required.

The employee must complete CGH-approved training and competency validation before obtaining or documenting vital signs or performing other patient intake activities.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

Knowledge of appointment scheduling and patient registration practices.

Basic understanding of medical terminology and insurance verification.

Ability to manage multiple calendars, work queues, phone calls, and competing priorities.

Strong attention to detail and documentation accuracy.

Professional written and verbal communication skills.

Ability to communicate respectfully with individuals experiencing behavioral health symptoms or stressful circumstances.

Ability to maintain confidentiality and appropriately handle sensitive information.

Proficiency with electronic health records, scheduling systems, payer portals, Microsoft Outlook, Word, and Excel.

Ability to recognize and immediately escalate clinical, behavioral, and environmental safety concerns.

Ability to remain within the administrative scope of the position.

Physical Requirements

Ability to sit, stand, walk, bend, and reach throughout the workday.

Ability to perform repetitive keyboarding and computer work.

Ability to communicate in person and by telephone.

Ability to move or lift office supplies and equipment weighing up to 20 pounds.

Ability to use blood pressure cuffs, scales, pulse-monitoring equipment, and other basic intake equipment after training.

Reasonable accommodations may be provided to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Work Environment

Work is primarily performed in an outpatient behavioral health clinic. The employee routinely interacts with patients, families, providers, and staff and may encounter individuals experiencing emotional distress, behavioral symptoms, or crisis situations. The position may involve exposure to communicable illnesses and protected health information.